I have my first Ironman - Lanzarote Ironman 19th May 2012. Currently my training routine consists of spin class, circuit class, short to med runs/cycles, and a couple of swim sessions Mon - fri and long run/cycle at the weekend. I intend to drop the spin class and circuit class and replace with more runs/cycles/swims once we get through the bad winter months here in Northern Ireland.

My question is I have a colleague in work trying to convince me to do some crossfit training. I did my first free benchmark crossfit session today and really enjoyed it, but im not sure if it will help get me through an ironman, if I do sign up it will be 3 sessions a week of high intensity weight and body weight training.

Whats are your thoughts on this?? Stick with what im doing or give the crossfit a go?? Also it is pure crossfit and not crossfit endurance. Crossfit endurance hasn't reached our shores yet.

You don't sound sold. Seems like it might be cool for the off-season but to me that sounds like a lot of time when ironman training is already a big commitment. Stick to the main training. You gotta do what will make you feel best prepared to start that Ironman on race day!

I have my first Ironman - Lanzarote Ironman 19th May 2012. Currently my training routine consists of spin class, circuit class, short to med runs/cycles, and a couple of swim sessions Mon - fri and long run/cycle at the weekend. I intend to drop the spin class and circuit class and replace with more runs/cycles/swims once we get through the bad winter months here in Northern Ireland.

My question is I have a colleague in work trying to convince me to do some crossfit training. I did my first free benchmark crossfit session today and really enjoyed it, but im not sure if it will help get me through an ironman, if I do sign up it will be 3 sessions a week of high intensity weight and body weight training.

Whats are your thoughts on this?? Stick with what im doing or give the crossfit a go?? Also it is pure crossfit and not crossfit endurance. Crossfit endurance hasn't reached our shores yet.

Thanks

Michael

What is your goal of the Ironman?

If it is to just finish and you think you will enjoy Crossfit, then by all means do it.

If your goal is to qualify for Kona then doing Crossfit 3 times per week in the 2-3 months leading up to Ironman will be very difficult. It would be extremely difficult to get the adequate recovery needed.

Those examples above are the 2 extremes. Seriously, if you are a reasonably fit person, completing an Ironman is not hard at all. If your goal is to just finish, then do Crossfit if you think you will enjoy it. It will by no means inhibit your ability to complete an Ironman.

I should have been more specific. You asked if it would help you with your IM. It most definitely will not, and will likely cost you assuming you have a limited amount of time to train, limited ability to recover etc.

However, if you're just in it all for fun and looking to complete, and are reasonable athletic, you can participate in both activities.

If I could do some crossfit edurance work I think it could be a plus, but the last thing I want to happen when competing in my first ironman is a thought in the back of my mind saying "The crossfit was a bad idea!!"

Think i'll stick with what im doing currently then crossfit the life out of it after May!

I should have been more specific. You asked if it would help you with your IM. It most definitely will not, and will likely cost you assuming you have a limited amount of time to train, limited ability to recover etc.

However, if you're just in it all for fun and looking to complete, and are reasonable athletic, you can participate in both activities.

Crossfit is high intensity anaerobic training, after doing it for a while you learn to function and work in that environment, similar to a sprint, as hard and fast as you can go, all anaerobic. A full IM you want to be aerobic for the race and you want to build that system as much as possible to be more efficient at that intensity. Just my opinion, no data to back it. I did crossfit for a while when doing sprint distance stuff, now I'm building for an IM I've signed up for. The training are two very different animals.

Crossfit is high intensity anaerobic training, after doing it for a while you learn to function and work in that environment, similar to a sprint, as hard and fast as you can go, all anaerobic. A full IM you want to be aerobic for the race and you want to build that system as much as possible to be more efficient at that intensity. Just my opinion, no data to back it. I did crossfit for a while when doing sprint distance stuff, now I'm building for an IM I've signed up for. The training are two very different animals.

A sprint triathlon is not an anaerobic event - it is very much an aerobic event that takes most athletes an hour or more to complete compared to the ~2 minutes for an anaerobic event.

Ok, maybe the heart rate zone tables are not right, but as an example they say heart rate of 80-90% of max is anerobic training, I know when I do a sprint I'm in that zone, not the zone below that says aerobic.

I don't think it's going to hurt. It might even help or it might not. But 3x a week while training for an IM? I'm not sure that's the best investment of your time.

I am a big believer in doing strength training for a variety of reasons. So I do it. And I love Crossfit for a number of reasons so that's what I do for my strength training. But I don't do traditional CF where you do 3 days on, 1 day off because that's 6 days of strength training per 8 days and I wouldn't have time to do my swim, bike, run.

I didn't get into triathlons because I hate to swim, bike and run and I don't do IMs because I hate to go long!

I generally do a lot of strength training during the winter when I'm not biking as much due to the weather. Then I taper off as the weather gets better and the days get longer. I do CF 2x a week for most of the Spring but when I am doing those really long bike rides of 80+ miles every week right before my IM, I get down to 1x a week as I just don't have the time to do it 2x. It's not just the time to get to the workouts -- it's also the recovery time.

Ok, maybe the heart rate zone tables are not right, but as an example they say heart rate of 80-90% of max is anerobic training, I know when I do a sprint I'm in that zone, not the zone below that says aerobic.

You are correct, the tables are not right (assuming you mean the ones on machines). Even if they were HR is not a reliable metric to gauge anaerobic efforts.

Typically Crossfit make you sore (sore in a good way, but still sore) and that could be detrimental to your IM training because it might cause you to skip your regular IM workouts.

I embarked on a "try all of the classes at my gym" plan after I finished IM this year, but had to scale it back because the classes were making me too sore to successfully complete my marathon training.

That said, if you are already proficient at Crossfit and it won't make you sore, you could just run or ride up to the Crossfit site and run or ride home to try and fit the workouts into your schedue.